


The Man

by JacOfAllTrades (JTHarper)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fingering, Fluff, Loneliness, M/M, Sex, Slow Burn, Supernatural - Freeform, Trans Connor, Trans Male Character, Vaginal Sex, non-human Connor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-29
Updated: 2019-07-16
Packaged: 2020-05-30 22:58:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19413160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JTHarper/pseuds/JacOfAllTrades
Summary: Hank had been seeing him for years. The first time was when he was a child. And every time, someone’s dead. Add into the fact he works homicide and he’s been seeing the figure more and more... and when the accident happened, Hank thought it would finally be his time, but the figure took Cole instead. Now Hank is going to do what he should have done years ago. Find this man and find out why he’s always there whenever someone dies around Hank.





	1. Happy birthday?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BIGHANK (piano_fire)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/piano_fire/gifts), [bibliomaniac](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bibliomaniac/gifts).



Hank was twelve the first time he saw ‘that man’ as he would later come to call him. It has been a normal day, and Hank was buckling his seat belt in the back seat of his dad’s truck as they were on the way home from school. Tomorrow was his birthday and he was about to turn 13; Hank was the most excited for his birthday he could ever remember. It was a Friday, so that already meant he could stay up late and watch cartoons, but since it was his birthday tomorrow he got to stay up until midnight to watch the day roll in! He couldn’t wait!

“Dad are you sure you can’t tell me what we’re doing tomorrow for my birthday?” He sounded kinda disappointed; it was about the 20th time he had asked in the last two days at least what his surprise for his birthday was going to be, and his father just rolled his eyes. Hank’s father, Edward ‘Eddie’ Anderson was a big man, reaching six foot four inches and weighing just over 250 pounds. He had the same blonde hair Hank did, though liberally peppered with grey, and a mustache spread across his top lip. His eyes, a forrest green, shined back at his son as he pulled away from the school to take them both home.

“Sorry champ, you know how your mom is about surprises. She’ll skin me alive if I tell you anything about it.” Hank sighed and crossed his arms, sinking further down into his seat.

“Yeah, okay fine… but I’m gunna like it right?” His father laughed, a smile shot back at Hank via the rear view mirror.

“Oh trust me kiddo, you’re gunna love it. Now, got any homework you need to finish before—“ unbeknownst to the two Anderson men, a drunk driver had lost control of his car. He swerved… and plowed directly into the side of Eddie’s truck, directly against the drivers side door. The collision was sudden, jarring, and loud.

Hank felt like something was wrong. He looked around, knew he was still in the truck, but he didn’t see his dad in the front seat.

“Dad? Dad?! Where did you go?!” He couldn’t get out of his seat. He couldn’t move. “Dad! Where are you?!” He looked around, panic in his voice and tears in his eyes. Then, he saw him. Standing outside the truck was his dad, and this… man. The man was a little shorter than his dad, and had his dark brown hair slicked back, minus one strand that hung over his chocolate colored eyes. Hank stared at the two of them, panic dying down, but concern still there. “Dad what are you doing? Who is that?” It was as if they didn’t hear him! Hank struggled against his seatbelt more. “Dad, please!” His dad smiled at the man sadly, and then finally the man looked to him. There were freckles or marks all over his pale complexion, and Hank noticed he was in a grey suit with a black tie and collared shirt. He sure looked fancy standing next to his dad; Eddie wearing the normal coveralls he wore to work at his mechanic shop. When the man looked to Hank, as if seeing him for the first time, he blinked; he looked confused. The man looked back to Eddie before glancing back at Hank, then spoke a few words to Eddie. Eddie nodded slightly before smiling more. The man and Eddie then turned away from Hank, and slowly walked away from the truck. Hank screamed after them… and then things went black.


	2. The First

When Hank woke up next he was in the hospital, a oxygen mask on his face, and his left arm wrapped tightly against his chest in a sling and a horrible pain in his head. 

“Hhhhhhnng…” he tried to speak but his throat hurt. 

“Oh god you’re awake…” that was his mom, he would recognize her voice anywhere. Hank looked to his right and there sat Margarette ‘Peggy’ Anderson neé Philips. She had straight blonde hair and the same crystal blue eyes Hank did, as well as the same slightly hooked nose. There were tears in her eyes as well as streaked down her face. “Oh Henry… sweetheart… thank The Lord you’re awake…”

“Mmmmmom…” Hank groaned out, throat still feeling like sandpaper when he tried to speak. Hearing Hank speak caused Peggy to cry harder, a hand moving to clutch his tighter. 

“Oh God Hank, baby, I thought… I thought I lost you too…” those words would sit in Hank’s heart for the rest of his life. He looked at his mom, broken down and crying at his hospital bedside, before he tried to speak one more time. 

“… too?” Hank felt tears in his eyes. No. It couldn’t be. There’s no way that… that his dad had… no. It wasn’t possible. Hank’s thoughts swirled as a nurse walked into the room to check on them. Before he knew it, a doctor was in the room as well, going over his vitals and charts. 

“You’re lucky to be alive Hank. That crash was pretty bad. Can you tell me what you remember?” The doctor had a clipboard and a pen in hand, looking at Hank from behind his thick glasses. They had given Hank some water and ice chips until his throat didn’t hurt quite as much, but it was still quiet when he spoke. 

“Dad picked me up from school… we were talking about my birthday…” Hank frowned, brows creasing together. His eyes drifted away from the doctor, moving down to his lap. “He was saying how much I was gonna love my surprise… and we got hit. He got up and there was this guy there, dark hair, dark eyes, in a dark grey suit. He and dad walked away together and then I don’t… I don’t know. I woke up and ma was crying.” Hank’s eyes moved back up to the doctor, there were tears clinging to his blond lashes. “Dad died didn’t he? He didn’t make it…” his voice broke slightly, a sob sitting low in his throat. The doctor looked uncomfortably at Hank, glancing at Peggy who just cried harder from her spot next to her son. 

“I’m so sorry Hank… your father didn’t make it after the crash… the accident was two weeks ago.” Hank felt his world crumbling. The tears slipped down his face; everything hurt, his arm, his head, his heart. He just wanted everything to stop hurting… the doctor started to ask more questions but Hank ignored him. He closed his eyes, he closed his ears, he turned away… he just wanted it to stop hurting…


	3. Partner

At age 18, Hank had graduated high school and was ready to do something with his life. While looking for something to do with his life, the police academy had popped into his radar. He did want to help people, and figured this was one of the best ways to do it. He signed up. It was honestly an easy decision for Hank. 

“Are you sure about this Hank? The police?” Peggy stood in the door to Hank’s bedroom as he was packing his duffel bag. Hank paused in folding some socks to look back up at his mother. 

“I’m sure ma. I want to help people, and this is one of the easiest ways for me to do that. Would you rather have me join the military?” He raised a blond eyebrow in question to his mother. She signed, sagging slightly. 

“Henry you know that’s not what I mean.” Hank’s smile told it all. 

“I know ma. I just, I want to help. I’m good at this stuff, you know I am. I promise I’ll be careful. Okay?” Peggy smiled slightly before crossing the room to hug her son. After his final growth spurt he was so much taller than her now; her head barley reached his chin. 

“I just want you safe and healthy, okay? I love you Hank.” Hank smiled and hugged his mother back. 

“I love you too ma.” The conversation ended there, Hank going back to packing his bags. 

Hank met Jeremy when they first entered into academy together. He was kinda short, only reaching 5’9” compared to Hank’s 6’4”, but was nicely toned, especially in the chest/bicep area. He had almond shaped eyes, a deep charcoal grey, and defined cheekbones. His hair, a dark brown, almost black, had been recently cut into a more military style as was customary in academy. Hank’s favorite part was his smile. Jeremy’s smile was bright and beautiful with slightly crooked teeth but no less endearing. He always smiled around Hank the most. They had been paired together as bunk mates, Jeremy taking to top bunk since it would have been harder for Hank to climb up there. Hank… may have enjoyed watching Jeremy climbing the ladder to his bunk. 

“What made you choose the police force?” Hank asked one night, a week and a half into their training. It was grueling and they barley had the energy to clean up before plopping down into their beds, but Hank was too restless from the long day to actually fall asleep. He could hear Jeremy rolling onto his side to get more comfortable and figured the question, though quiet, wouldn’t wake the other since he was still awake. 

“Family mostly. My dad was army, uncles in the force, cousins too. Police and military run in the family. It was this or join the coast guard since I don’t really want to be far from my mom. She’s all I really have left after dad died from brain cancer three years ago.” Hank was quiet for a moment, realizing he and Jeremy has more in common than he had originally thought. 

“I don’t have any siblings, only aunt I have is my moms sister and her husband, but they don’t have any kids.” He paused for a moment, frowning some. “Dad died when I was twelve. On my birthday if you can believe it. Drunk driver hit the truck while he was picking me up from school.” Hank saw Jeremy poke his head over the side of the bunk, the few longer brown bangs he still had coming over his forehead and casting shadows over his eyes. 

“Fuck man I’m sorry. That’s one shitty birthday present.” Hank have him a sad smile. 

“Yeah, but mines not a fresh as yours. I’m sorry about your dad. Cancer can fuck off.” Jeremy smiled at that. 

“I’m gunna get a tattoo with my dads name and a cancer ribbon that says ‘fuck cancer’ sometime after academy. You should totally get one for your dad too.” Hank smiles a little wider. 

“Yeah… I think I just might.” Hank was about to reply with an idea for a tattoo in memoriam to his father when there was a sudden light shining in from the end of the room and a commanding bark from their commanding officer to quiet down (they weren’t the only two quietly chatting but it was getting to just about time when everyone had to be completely silent for bed). Jeremy disappeared back up to his bunk and Hank turned onto his stomach, arms sliding under his pillow to support his head. He would have to catch his friend up on the tattoo idea over breakfast.


	4. A Mothers Worry

Hank and Jeremy were lucky they got the chance to work together as patrol partners when academy was over. Their CO had seen how well they worked together and recommended them as a pair when they had both graduated. It was… more boring than Hank thought it would be. Most of the days started the same; clock in, check paperwork, get in the car, patrol, write tickets, back to the prescient, write more paperwork, clock out, come back the next day for the same thing. If they were lucky they would get a call in for a traffic accident or even a domestic, but mostly they sat in their patrol car and drove around, looking for infractions. When people said cops jobs were mostly paperwork, they weren’t kidding. It wasn’t like they showed on TV at all. The plus side was he got to spend all that down time with Jeremy. The two had quickly become best friends and Hank was crushing pretty hard on the other officer. They had even decided to get an apartment together, much to his mothers chagrin. 

“So you’re moving in with this boy?” Peggy stood at the door to Hank’s room, watching her son finish packing the last of his clothes into a box. 

“Yeah ma, figured it would be easier since we’re working the same shift and everything. Besides, Jeremy is a great guy. You’ve met him, remember? At graduation?” Hank took the tape across the top of the box before setting it down to look around his empty room. Some of the furniture was staying; his bed, one dresser, a lamp. Everything else had been moved over to the new apartment, he was just grabbing the last few things he hadn’t packed up. Peggy gave a small sigh as she watched her one and only son pack away his life in a few boxes. 

“Just… promise you’ll call me?” Hank looked over to his mother, a sad smile across his face. He pushed a few loose blond curls from his eyes before moving over and enveloping his mother in a hug. 

“I love you ma… I’ll make sure to visit as much as I can, and I’ll call as much as possible. I promise. It might take a while to get the schedules down but I’ll do my best.” Peggy hugged Hank back as tightly as she could. 

“I love you too Hank… that’s all I could ask for.”


	5. The Second

Six months… was all it took to change everything. 

Hank and Jeremy had been walking together on their beat, their cruiser had been borrowed by another pair of officers so Jeremy had suggested to do a walk patrol. 

“It’s not like we couldn’t use the exercise. I know sitting behind that desk doing paperwork isn’t good for either of us.” Jeremy reached across and gave a friendly pat to Hank’s stomach. Hank squirmed away before laughing. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go clear it with the CO.” Hank smiled before heading to report the idea to their CO, and within twenty minutes they were on the beat. The two chatted, mentioning shows they planned to watch their next days off and plans they had. Hank talked about getting his new tattoo touched up (Jeremy had gone with Hank to the artist and sat with him while he got his chest piece done in memorial for his dad, and then Hank sat while Jeremy got the cancer ribbon on his upper arm for his own dad) wanting to add a few colors and maybe something for his mom too. 

The call was almost static over their radios. Something was happening two blocks down… and they both ran. Jeremy was always a little faster than Hank, he was a bit smaller after all, so when he rounded the corner just moments before Hank did, there was no stopping. 

The gunshot was deafening to Hank’s ears as he watched it tear through Jeremy’s head. He watched his friend fall, blood splattering back onto the sidewalk. Hank couldn’t stop his own momentum having been mid stride, and felt the searing pain in his left shoulder along with another gunshot ringing in his ears. Hank fell, crashing hard onto the ground right next to Jeremy. He stared, blood gushing from his shoulder and shock setting into his system. Hank couldn’t move, he heard noises, getting quieter around him, but no matter what he tried, he couldn’t move. His vision started to blur with the blood loss… and then he saw him again. That man. He was there, hands sliding under Jeremy’s armpits and pulling him away from the gunfire ringing around them. For a brief moment, their eyes locked, a knowing look in the man’s eyes… and then Hank was unconscious.


	6. Hospitals

Hank woke in the hospital. He hated hospitals. But mostly… he hated seeing his mother sitting in a hospital chair and crying at his bedside. 

“I’m okay ma…” Peggy jumped at hearing her son’s voice, sobbing and clutching his hand tighter. 

“Oh my god, Henry, you’re awake…” Hank gave a tired smile to his mother before carefully, painfully, reaching over to hit the ‘call nurse’ button on his bed after extracting his hand from his mothers. He then replaced his hand in his mothers and let her continue to squeeze. 

“Just breath deep, okay ma? Try and calm down a little bit.” Peggy nodded, still sobbing and clutching Hank’s hand tighter. A few moments passed before a nurse entered the room followed by the doctor. The woman was all business with her hair in a bun and a clip board clutched in her elbow. She flipped the first few pages up as she completely ignored Hank and his sobbing mother. 

“You’ve suffered from a dislocated shoulder, multiple tendon tears and massive blood loss. Not to mention the probable psychological damage from the experience. Your commanding officer has requested a briefing as soon as you’re lucid. You’re currently on a low dose morphine drip which we will ween you off of and replace with another pain killer. Depending on your level of pain, management can be adjusted. You’re also on a set of antibiotics to fight off infection because of the stitches in your shoulder… a councilor will be by later to discuss with you the incident. Do you have any questions?” She finally looked up to Hank, a coldness sitting in her eyes. 

“What… happened to the other guy?” The doctor looked at her nurse for a moment before glancing back to Hank. It was obvious bedside manner was not her forte. 

“Your partner was—“ 

“No, not Jeremy… the other guy. The one who pulled Jeremy’s body out of the fire fight.” His words struck something in the doctor and he could tell. 

“Mister Anderson… there was no one else present with you during the shoot out… you and your partner were found on the ground together, bleeding across the pavement…”


	7. Therapy

Hank hates psychologists almost as much as he hated hospitals. They always asked too many questions, wanted everything in detail, and as with the ones he had talked to after his father’s death, this one wanted to know about ‘the man’ as Hank had so aptly put it. 

“I’ve told you the same thing, three times now. He was about six foot, dark brown hair and brown eyes, suit and tie, lots of freckles. Slim to medium build. And he pulled Jeremy away from the fire fight right after I had gotten shot. I’ll give a detailed description to the police sketch artist if you want me to, it is my job to notice details. I don’t know how, and I don’t know why, but he was there. Looked me dead in the eyes and left me to bleed out.” The therapist jotted something down on his note pad, nodding slightly.

“I believe you saw what you said Hank, I’m just not sure if it was actually there. You see, our minds sometimes create situations for us that we all believe one hundred percent are real, but are in fact just subsets of the trauma that we were in; this is a very common thing when dealing with post traumatic stress disorder and a triggering event such as the death of your partner. What I’m going to do for you is schedule you to come back in two weeks and we’ll talk again then. Until then I’m going to prescribe some anti-depressants to see if that will help with your condition, okay?” Hank gave a heavy sigh but mumbled an affirmative. Anything to get out of that office and back to work.


	8. Therapy End

Hank continued his therapy. He didn’t like it, but did it like he was supposed to. The antidepressants actually helped some with issues Hank didn’t realize he was having. He slept better, less nightmares, and it was a low dose so his job wasn’t worried about it. And as for The Man. Well, his shrink kept asking about him. Hank got tired of explaining and just stopped. 

“Listen I’ve explained all I know. Okay? I can’t really tell you more. Maybe I did imagine it. I was losing a lot of blood. Maybe he was some Good Samaritan trying to help and I only saw him for half a second. I’m not sure. But I can tel you, if I ever see him again, I’m going to get answers the next time.” His therapist gave a sigh before moving onto other topics – Hank’s work week, had they found him a new partner yet, his visits with his mother, and general checking up. 

“Well this was the last mandated session… if you still want to keep coming, I’ll leave a spot open for you, and if you don’t it’s understandable, but just know that sometimes talking it out with someone is more helpful than you think. There are people who love and care about you Hank. They want to see you succeed.” Hank nodded as he stood; he shook his therapist’s hand before heading out to the lobby. Hank looked back at the check in desk for a few moments… then turned and left the building.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys sorry updates have been tiny. Things are kinda moving along in this a little slow and I know it’s probably frustrating, but once it gets more into the ‘game’ timeline it’ll have larger updates chapter length wise. They might be split too but if they are I’ll post multiple. I’m also sorry if I miss a few days this weekend - I’ll be away at a con but I’ll try to keep up with the daily updates. 
> 
> Thank you for your patience with all this. I really appreciate it. 
> 
> JOAT


	9. Shift Work

By age 22, Hank had seen his fare share of the corruptness that grew in the underbelly of Detroit. He was a good cop, had cycled through a few partners, but no one really stuck. 

It was another instance where he was partnerless, (his last one, one of his good friends from academy Jeff Fowler, had broken his leg in a recreational skydiving accident bad enough that he was on desk duty for the foreseeable future) when the first real incident happened. 

Hank’s days were pretty average now. He would get up before his shift (he was working thirds at the moment which meant 11pm to 6am) grab a quick shower, coffee, breakfast, dressed, and out the door. He would make it to work, clock in and head to his desk. Then it was paperwork for a while, refill his coffee at least once, twice if it was a bad enough day, then patrol. Patrol wasn’t bad by himself; he got to listen to whatever music he wanted on the radio, and with these overnight shifts he got the good jazz channels on the AM radio. It did get lonely at times but he held out until his days off when he could go visit his mom or some of his friends (not that he had many). 

The day had started off like any other. He had gotten up with his alarm, grabbed his phone, wallet, keys, and put them in the dish by the door so he wouldn’t forget them. His shower was pretty quick as he headed out for a cup of coffee and some cereal. Hank remembered to pop his medication back with his third gulp of coffee before topping up his togo cup and heading to the door. When he got to the precinct everything was normal. Hank clocked in, waved goodbye to some of the second shift officers, plopped down at his desk and started on paperwork. He had a report on his desk that took him longer than normal, so he was already through his third cup of coffee and it was rounding one in the morning when he finally finished. 

“You’re in here later than usual.” Officer Ben Collins stated as he was walking back to his desk from the break room, fresh cup of coffee and a bag of chips in his hands. 

“Yeah paperwork has been killer recently, had a big report due out and I’ve been struggling with but I finally got it done tonight. You enjoying the front desk duty?” Hanks smirk was a bit wider than it needed to be but Ben just rolled his eyes and smiled bad, nodding to his left arm in a sling. 

“You get tackled by a perp through a window and only come out with a torn rotator cuff and then we’ll talk.” Hank laughed, smile spreading across his face; the gap in his teeth poking out behind his lip. 

“Alright alright, you got me there. I better get my stuff ready for my patrol. You heal up quick Ben.” Ben just nodded, heading back to his own desk. Hank finished the last few lines of his report before saving it and logging off his terminal. He got another coffee from the break room before heading out to his squad car and starting on his patrols.


	10. AUTHORS NOTE

So as you all know I’ve been posting in chapters. Well as things go, especially with my life right now, they’re bad. 

I had a issue with my word document and have lost everything. I still have these chapters since they’re posted but I had no pack ups of the others I had written. I still have my plot and everything written out but it looks like I’m going to have to re-write everything. 

I’m so sorry for the delay. Mostly I’m sorry to Brin and Griffin for this delay when they have already done their amazing parts. I’m going to work really hard to get this beat out in a timely manner. 

I’m just... I’m sorry

JOAT

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! This is my entry for the HankCon Big Bang! I’ll be posting in ‘chapters’ over the next few days
> 
> I was paired with Brin and Griffin (Boringbibs and BIGHANK) who did amazing arts for me and I am so grateful for them!


End file.
